Hi thanks as always for stopping by – I’m eager to hear of your freedom and fruit in the Lord. 😎
I want to invite you to consider something from the Scriptures that is almost entirely neglected in most modern churches – something concerning that which is to come. I need you to understand that spiritual realities are being referred to in this post.
Two Women, Two Cities
In Revelation, two women are described following the initial letters to the seven churches. One of those women is the bride of Christ, clothed in the glory of God and made ready in the final days (Rev. 19:6-9, 21:9-11). The other woman is “the great harlot” – “that great city who sits over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 19:1-5, Rev. 17:18).
Importantly, God has commanded His people to “come out of” that harlot. In other words, God’s people might currently be found within that spiritual city; and to avoid receiving His judgment, God wants them out of it. So is it not incredibly important to understand which city is being spoken of by the Holy Spirit?
Guiding Passages
“‘But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. … How degenerate is your heart!’ says the Lord GOD, ‘seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot’” (Ezekiel 16:15, 30).
“Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city!
She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the LORD,
She has not drawn near to her God” (Zeph. 3:1-2).
“Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (Rev. 18:4-5).
The Sheep out of the Goats
In order to understand who Mystery Babylon is, we must remember that the Lord Jesus always taught that, in the final judgment, the real would be separated from the fake. It is important to remember that “Not all Israel is Israel” (Rom. 9:6). In like manner, not all who claim to be the church are the church.
According to the Lord, in the end, there will have been two kinds of people within the church:
- Those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and therefore put down others, and those who instead trusted in God’s mercy (Luke 18:9-14);
- Those who hoped in their own works for right standing with God, and those who instead believed and hoped in Jesus’s work on their behalf (John 5:44-47);
- Those who exalted themselves, and those who instead humbled themselves (Luke 14:7-11);
- Those who neglected the powerless, and those who instead welcomed them in (Luke 14:12-14);
- Those who neglected the poor, and those who instead remembered them (Luke 16:19-31);
- Those who neglected the helpless, and those who instead supported them (Matt. 25:31-45);
- Those who wasted the Lord’s investment, and those who instead delivered Him a return on it (Matt. 25:14-29);
- Those whose houses were built upon the sand as they heard the Word of God but didn’t do it, and those whose houses instead were built upon the rock as they heard the Word of God and did it (Matt. 7:24-26).
In the end, there will be those who called Jesus Lord, who performed many signs, and who did many mighty works in His name – but who hear from him, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness – I never knew you” (Matt. 7:21-23). On the other hand, there will be those meek, wise stewards who will hear from Him, “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your Lord” (Luke 19:17). Only in the end are the real separated from the fake.
The Bride out of the Harlot
Apply the same principle to the leadership of the present day church. Within them, you will find:
- Two kinds of leaders: Those who seek to ascend and sit above the congregation like Satan (Is. 14:13-15), and those who instead seek to descend and serve like Christ Jesus did (Phil. 2:5-11);
- Two kinds of teachers: Those who by selfish ambition teach the commandments of men for the sake of dishonest gain, and those who instead by simplicity of heart train the saints in love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith (Titus 1:10-14, 2 Tim. 3:1-7);
- Two kinds of shepherds: Those who feed on the flock, neglect the weak, forget the lost, and hide when the wolf comes, and those who by the power of the Good Shepherd instead feed, heal, seek out, bring back, and protect the flock (Ezekiel 34);
- Two kinds of evangelists: Those who travel land and sea to make converts who are twice as much sons of hell as themselves (Matt. 23:15), and those who instead bring the pure good news of peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ (Is. 52:7-9);
- Two kinds of prophets: Soothsayers and diviners who by their own imaginations promise peace and blessing to a lawless people, and those who instead steward the very visions, affections, and words of God for the sake of comfort, edification, correction, and guarding direction (Ezekiel 13);
- Two kinds of apostles: Savage wolves who through deception, extortion, and flattering prayers devour the livelihood of widows by the power of mammon (Matt. 23:14), and those who instead have been entrusted with the defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with the mysteries of God, and with the calling to prophesy and teach the people at scale.
“You will know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:15-20). It is very important that we choose our leaders well because they are either leading us into an ever-increasingly fruitful relationship with God, or they are leading us into judgment. Not all leaders are approved of by God to lead (1 Samuel 16:1).
The Past as Example
You might think, “Gosh, Jordan – way too harsh to imply God would ever refer to portions of the professing church as a harlot. Especially not leaders! You’re out of line!”
Let’s see what God had to say by His servants the prophets to Jerusalem – the center of religious activity – during the Old Covenant:
Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city!
She has not obeyed His voice,
She has not received correction;
She has not trusted in the Lord,
She has not drawn near to her God.
Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone til morning.
Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the Law.
The Lord is righteous in her midst,
He will do no unrighteousness.”
Zephaniah 3:1-5
What about to Samaria and Jerusalem – capitals of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms prior to exile?
“…righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”
Ezekiel 23:45 (see also Ezekiel 16)
And how about after exile – what about to the more recent leaders of that city – what have His prophets spoken to them?
“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. … even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Matt. 3:7-10
And how did God Himself characterize those leaders? See Matthew 23 – whitewashed tombs, blind guides, hypocrites. To those serpents He said, “You will receive the greater condemnation” (Matt. 23:14).
Just as judgment eventually came to the rebellious, polluted city, so judgment is coming to the harlot “in a day, in an hour” (Rev. 18:8, 17). I am writing this article because I do not want you to fall into judgment.
“Come Out of Her, My People”
In the end, we will see two separate cities.
One city has forsaken the King of Kings for the king of Babylon. She is built by men upon the traditions of men in the power of men for the sake of men (Gen. 10:8-12, Daniel 4:28-30). She is governed by men of lawlessness who control others, who coerce the weak, who lead the unsuspecting into rebellion, who manipulate the powerless, and who extort the broken.
She is convinced she will not see evil (Rev. 18:7), but her judgments will come in an hour:
“Now hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice and pervert all equity,
who build up Zion with bloodshed
and Jerusalem with iniquity:
Her leaders judge for a bribe,
Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets inquire for money.
Yet they lean on the LORD, and say,
‘Is not the Lord among us? No harm can come upon us.’
Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
and the mountains of the temple like the bare hills of the forest.”
Micah 3:8-12
And just as she has trusted in her own beauty and righteousness, so her heart has departed from the Lord.
The other city is from above: The bride of the Lamb – the heavenly Jerusalem, Zion – a fruitful garden, the planting of the Lord. She is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). She is governed by faithful elders qualified in the faith who serve willingly, sacrificially, and by example (1 Pet. 5:1-4). God walks among her. He shepherds her, and leads her, and guides her, and even rewards her. Her sins were many, but God blotted them out; and she believed Him and received His righteousness – and she loved Him for it.
So my recommendation to you, dear reader, is to evacuate that lawless city and to follow the Lord Jesus wherever He leads (Rev. 14:4).
“Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
Rev. 18:4-5
May the throne of David be established on the earth,
On which will sit Jesus Christ the Lord;
and His reign will bring freedom and justice to the people,
completely contrary to what Saul has demonstrated by his own deeds and doctrines.
Remember: The kingdom was torn from Saul and instead given to David long ago (Luke 22:28-30).
The Cave at Mizpah 